An exercise in self awareness
by emanucode
Summary: A metaphorical plot bunny awakens as a man who isn't really becomes sane from a different perspective


_Conference room 17 – PRT HQ – Battery and Piggot_

"What'd he say his name was?" asked Piggot

"He insisted on Plotline" Battery replied

"Isn't that the Ward in New Mexico?"

"He insisted that there was no one existing by that name in New Mexico, even despite evidence to the contrary being provided. Waxed poetic about reality not existing until it was observed and having never experienced this other ward he could definitely state that they do not yet exist.

Piggot let out a long rhetorical sigh, "Why does Brockton always get the crazies?"

The hero passed a piece of paper to the heavyset woman, "Here's the report on our initial interview I conducted earlier this morning,"

* * *

 _Interview room 829 – PRT HQ - Battery_

"No, you don't understand," the man started with a frustrated look on his face, "I "know" that my name is Paul Paperstein, I "know" I grew up in Philadelphia the same way I "know" that I'm 28 and.."

"You wrote the words "Non applicable" for all the questions on the intake form, and communicated the fact that you had no real memory of your life from before trooper Davis found you wandering the streets" The woman in a costume illuminated with bright blue circuits patiently explained.

"Exactly"

"You are aware that misrepresenting yourself to an official Protectorate representative is a crime punishable by up to 30 days in prison?"

His face turned annoyed, "No! You're still not listening. I'm not from Philadelphia, I'm not even from Earth bet!"

Battery quirked an unimpressed eyebrow, "You claim to be from an alternative earth? Like Aleph?"

"So̸me̴t̀hi͏ńg̸ lik̛e̷ th̛ąt̶, but no you're still not listening. I don't exist…"

"Like you don't exist on record?

"Like I only exist on record. This conversation we're having? Not real, I'm not really here. Neither are you for that matter"

Battery sighed, "You might not have known this, but sometimes powers mess with the heads of those get them. This is neither the first or last time a parahuman suffered from delusions after obtaining their powers. Let's move on from existential dilemmas and onto something a little more tangible, like the statements you made to the trooper last night."

The man scoffed but relented, "Suit yourself, you're half of this reality along with me"

"Before we begin, can you tell me how would you categorize your powers?"

"Are you sure you want me to answer that?" said the man while raising an eyebrow.

"Why else would I ask?"

"I think, that until I give the answer I can be reasonably assumed to have any power the plot desires me to have of course"

"So you're a trump then?"

"There hasn't been anything written yet that would say whether or not that's the case, or even that I have the required knowledge to answer that question. Sure I could reply yes or no but the fact that you're asking implies a probability that my reality might be warped to accommodate a narrative flow. Why would you manipulate my reality like that without even asking? I might have lived and known all along after you ask and I'd never know that it wasn't real after you asked."

"We have a bodycam making some pretty concerning remarks"

"There is no video, before this conversation started I did not exist. Seeing as how I never had a conscious experience before or even during right now, whatever actions are captured in this "video" I can't take credit or blame for the results seeing as how it only retroactively happened. Unless you choose to act like they do in which case I can definitely pretend it happened, but I want it on record that I protest."

Battery reigned in and mentally reworded the question she wanted to ask in response to the nonsense the man was spouting, "Are you now or have you ever been associated with the Archers Bridge merchants?"

"No, except in the more meta-reality sense in that the "reality" I find myself in is made up in large part of the actors who show it and the merchants are of course a part of it"

"I can see this conversation isn't going anywhere," She glances at the clock on the top of the wall behind the man, "let's continue after some lunch, I'll be back an hour from now"

His face turned annoyed looking, "ma̧d̕n҉ess͢, ̢an ̢h̀our͘ ͠i͠s ҉too ͡l͢o̕ng for lu̡nc̀h, but sure let's let someone else have a turn while until "reality" has us talk again"

* * *

 _Conference room 17 – PRT HQ – Battery and Piggot continued_

So what's this video?

"The trooper's body cam captured the initial encounter at 0300 hours out on the docks, following up on a concerned citizen's call about a potential parahuman. I'll let you see for yourself" Said battery as she pressed a button on a remote and the monitor in front of them started to play

 _Bodycam footage, 03:00_

A scruffily dressed man showed up on the screen and waved at the trooper, "Hello again Battery, I decided that I would like to continue to exist despite the empty purposed nature of my existence so I figured I'd drop in on the post interview chat"

"Sir are you all right?"

"And hello to you as well, nice to see that you finally have more of an existence Mr. Mystery trooper who up to now was only referenced as having existed"

"Sir we received reports that a parahuman might be in the area"

"Really? You did? I was just walking around minding my own damn business and you received a report? Doesn't that seem strange to you?

"Sir, I have to ask if you are affiliated with any gangs"

"Listen to me carefully, I don't know how much time I have. Reality is tipsy turvey and may collapse at any moment, forever killing everyone we know to exist, though we don't. I saw reality, true reality as it really is and our iteration of it is known to me as far as we do not deviate from the source. Any event of sufficient interestingness could make it literally impossible for me to say anything until its conclusion. Though really I'm not here and saying anything and exist as more of a method to express information, a plot if you will."

"Sir are you a parahuman?"

"Thomas Calvert is the supervillain coil, Chris's tinker specialty is modularity, Sophia Hess is Shadow Stalker, and Dinah Alcott may be the third strongest thinker to "exist". Leviathan hits Brockton bay and the beginning of the worlds end in a golden thing laser-skewering a continent"

* * *

 _Conference room 17 – PRT HQ – Battery and Piggot continued_

Director Piggot looked considerably more somber than when she walked into the room, "This is _very concerning_ , a thinker of that potency with questionable sanity and that little sense of tact cannot be allowed to move freely without our guidance. And what blatant disrespect for the unwritten rules. If this is mishandled the results could be disastrous, we need to get him into the protectorate."

The figure on the paused screen turned towards Piggot, "Haven't I asked not to manipulate reality like that, you're altering the future you know. We're locked on a course of conflict now as those looking at us will desire a resolution to your words. Should we talk in person now? Or not, an hour won't really pass until sufficient plot happens to justify an hour passing, not that people are really all that strict with time in that sense anyway."

The blood visibility drained from Piggot's face as she began shouting, "Initiate master stranger protocols, lock this building DOWN NOW!"


End file.
